causes of child trafficking a case study of ghana

Specifically, the study asks about the root causes of child trafficking in the case of Ghana, and why the laws against trafficking enacted there are not adequately enforced.. Through the

Department of Political Science

Causes of Child Trafficking

A case study of Ghana

Supervisor; Martin Hall

Abstract

Despite the growing efforts by international and national actors to combat trafficking in human beings, the slavery of our time is flourishing Among the victims of trafficking, children are especially vulnerable, as they completely dependent on adults for livelihood and rights

In the contemporary debate few studies treat trafficking as a problem in its own right This study aims to correct this situation by examining the root causes

of trafficking Specifically, the study asks about the root causes of child trafficking in the case of Ghana, and why the laws against trafficking enacted there are not adequately enforced

The study use previous work on trafficking to form a theoretical framework,

by constructed categories Qualitative interview methodology is used to mine data, with standardised and open questions

During the field study interviews were carried out with government agencies, NGOs and private citizens on the trafficking situation in Ghana The results from these studies are compared and analysed, in relation to each other and the contemporary international debate on trafficking

Through the interviews it was found that, the root causes of trafficking in Ghana are ignorance and lack of education, the Ghanaian culture of sending away children with extended family and poverty

Inadequate enforcement was found to be attributed to inconsistencies in Ghana's legal framework and enforcement, lack of education and corruption within law enforcement, and problems with coordination among government agencies There is also an imbalance of power in the cooperation between government and NGOs, as the latter initiate cooperation on the issue

From the field study it became evident that the contemporary theoretical framework of trafficking is not adequate to conceptualise and combat the complex problem, for this a comprehensive approach towards child trafficking is needed

In Ghana there is a need for clearer legal definitions Educational effort should

be directed, at law enforcement as well as the general population And further coordination is needed, where the government takes a more active role in initiating cooperation with NGOs and the general population Trafficking in children is culturally entrenched in Ghana, so unless concerted efforts are made to amend this situation, trafficking in children will likely remain a problem there for

a long time to come

Keyword: Child trafficking, Ghana, root causes, law enforcement

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Purpose 3

1.2 Scope and limitations 4

2 Theory 5

2.1 Legislative approach 5

2.2 Development perspective 6

2.3 Gender perspective 7

2.4 Cultural perspective 8

3 Methodology 9

4 Trafficking in Ghana 12

4.1 About Ghana 12

4.2 Legal system of Ghana 13

4.2.1 Constitution of Ghana 14

4.2.2 Children’s Act 14

4.2.3 Human Trafficking Act 15

4.3 Child trafficking in Ghana 16

5 Interviews 18

5.1 Macro-level, Governmental Agencies 18

5.1.1 Ministry A, Senior official 18

5.1.2 Ministry B, Senior official 20

5.1.3 Judicial Agency, Senior official 22

5.1.4 Law Enforcement Agency A, Senior official 24

5.1.5 Law Enforcement Agency B, Senior official 25

5.1.6 Law Enforcement Agency B, officers 25

5.2 Meso-Level, NGOs 26

5.2.1 NGO A, Representative 26

5.2.2 NGO B, Senior representative 29

5.2.3 NGO C, Senior representative 1 30

5.2.4 NGO C, Senior representative 2 31

5.2.5 NGO C, Representative 1 31

5.2.6 NGO C, Representative 2 32

5.2.7 NGO D, Senior representative 33

5.3 Micro Level, Private citizens 34

5.3.1 Group interview with seven ex-trafficked children 34

5.3.2 Parent A, Female 36

5.3.3 Parent B, Male 36

5.3.4 Teacher in Elementary School in a sending community 37

5.3.5 Additional 1, Discussion with general population 38

5.3.6 Additional 2, Drawings from nineteen ex-trafficked childrenError! Bookmark not defined 6 Analysis of Findings 39

6.1 Root causes 39

6.1.1 Lack of education and ignorance 39

6.1.2 Culture of sending 40

6.1.3 Poverty 41

6.2 Enforcement problems 42

6.2.1 Inconsistency 42

6.2.2 Lack of education 43

6.2.3 Corruption 44

6.2.4 Coordination problems 45

6.3 Need of a Comprehensive Approach 45

7 Conclusions and recommendations 47

8 Executive Summary 50

9 Literature 55

1 Introduction

Concerted international efforts to combat trafficking in human beings can

be said to have started with the UN Convention of 1949 for the Suppression

of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (United Nations 1949) efforts that have been intensified steadily, particular during the recent decade, both at international and national level

The United Nation Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking

in Persons, especially Women and Children (United Nations 2000), also known as the Palermo Protocol, helped to give a detailed legal definition of trafficking and provided an international legal framework that could serve

as a benchmark for action against trafficking and national legislation The protocol has since it entered into force in 2003 been ratified and implemented in the legislation of many countries Many countries have also developed additional legislation independently of the Protocol in order to combat trafficking, although these national efforts vary greatly

Locally, government bodies and civil society are struggling with both the supply and the demand side of trafficking But, despite concerted efforts, this trade in people not only persists, but flourishes Today, the phenomenon has become well established and is widely recognized as the slavery of our time

There are no exact figures on how many that are currently victims of trafficking But the International Organization of Labour estimates that around 12.3 million people can be regarded as victims of forced, bonded, and child labour, while other estimates range from 4 million to 27 million victims (US Department of State 2008) And according to statistics from the United National's Children's Fund (UNICEF), human trafficking is rated as the World's third most profitable illegal business, apart from the trade in drugs and illegal weapons Trafficking stands high on the global political agenda, and attention from media has grown steadily in the last decade This study is focusing on trafficking in children Children are especially vulnerable to trafficking for different forms of exploitation by adults as they are dependent on them for their livelihood and enforcement of their rights The conditions of trafficked children are abysmal by any standard They are forced to perform hard and often dangerous tasks under harsh living conditions And the consequences of child trafficking does not stop with the physical and psychological ill treatment of children, it also has wider, long term socio-economic implications

If children are not provided with the opportunity to education, there is a risk of setting up barriers for the creation of productive employment The availability of child labour may also lock the wider economy into low

productive manual labour And children that are growing up in an environment of exploitation and violence might treat the following generations in a similar way, creating a risk of path dependency

The research into the root causes of trafficking is still at an embryonic stage A lot of commendable work has been done in developing means to prosecute perpetrators, both in terms of legislation and law enforcement working methods

Similarly much research has been conducted on how to refine legal tools and understanding the global patterns of trafficking However, research on the causes of trafficking remains thin in comparison Most of the available work on root causes either test certain hypotheses or just take a particular stance for granted

These stances often originate from well-established theoretical traditions, e.g Feminism and Marxism As a consequence, trafficking has often been viewed through the lens of either poverty and global inequality

or enduring patriarchal structures For instance, while a Marxist might view trafficking as a result of global inequality exacerbated by growing internationalisation, the Feminist researchers’ might view trafficking for sexual purposes as an extreme manifestation of male dominance While this may help us understand trafficking from a certain aspect, it also limits our understanding of the problem's complexity

Altogether very few attempts have been made to explore trafficking as a phenomenon in its own right This study aims to alleviate this shortage by exploring the root causes of trafficking through qualitative interviews within the framework of a field study More specifically the study explores the roots causes of trafficking by assessing the situation of child trafficking in Ghana The main research question of this study is:

What are the root causes of child trafficking in Ghana?

Here it is necessary point out that the occurrence of child trafficking in Ghana cannot be entirely ascribed to a lack of formal legal provisions The country has enacted a series of laws and established several agencies specifically to combat trafficking in humans, adults and children alike However, trafficking is prevalent, and one major reason is that laws are not properly enforced Therefore, the main question is complemented by asking:

Why are laws specially designed to combat trafficking in Ghana not adequately enforced?

The problem with legal enforcement is intimately linked to the root causes of trafficking Problems with enforcement may originate from the same root causes as trafficking, e.g lack of education, poverty, or cultural aspects And if trafficking remains prevalent despite legal provisions inadequate enforcement is a potential root cause in itself

1.1 Purpose

The purpose of this study is not to challenge existing theories on the root causes of trafficking of human beings but to complement them More specifically, the study attempts to find explanations to why child trafficking

is such an inveterate problem in Ghana despite that efforts have been made, through legislation and institution building, to combat it

Since this is a qualitative case study, there is no direct necessity for the choice of country to be representative of any given sample, which would have been the case with a quantitative study However, there must be criteria for the choice of case subject for the study Even if individual characteristics are unique, such as the cultural or socio-economic situation, the case should at least represent some broader category

Ghana was chosen for a number of reasons First, West Africa is one of the most prominent sending regions Ghana was also chosen because it has problems with both internal and external trafficking and the country is both

a sending, transit and receiving country Seen in conjunction, a study of a country representing all these aspects can help to get a better understanding

of the complex and intertwined web that constitutes trafficking in human beings, even as this study mainly focuses on the sending aspect of the trafficking in children internally in Ghana

Another factor that makes Ghana an interesting case is that its severe trafficking situation cannot be attributed to a complete lack of will by lawmakers to combat trafficking or abide by international standards As mentioned, the country has adopted several laws both against trafficking in human beings and for protecting the rights of children And Ghana was the first country in the world to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) But still the country faces severe problems with child trafficking

If nothing had been done in terms of legal provisions, there would be little to study, and if legislation and law enforcement were sufficient measures against trafficking, the scope for research would have been similarly limited Again, this study can on that basis address the issue why the enforcement of existing law does not function adequately In this context, it should also be mentioned that according to the US State Department Ghana was classified as a Tier 2 country (US Department of State 2010) This classification is given to countries were efforts, including legislative, have been made to meet minimum international requirements, but that has so far not managed to live up to these requirements

Ghana is a poor country, but not abysmally poor in comparison with other West African nations And the country has had peace for a relative long time, the main reason why the country is also a transit and receiving country in terms of trafficking This has prompted many NGOs to focus their activities to Ghana, also positive for the purpose of this field study Why does this study focus on trafficking in children? First, it should be observed that both women and children as groups are generally over-

represented as victims of human trafficking Women are vulnerable due to economic and social marginalisation and are often dependent on fathers or husbands Children are similarly vulnerable due to their economic and social dependence on adults In other words, the situation of women and children overlap in the sense that both are especially vulnerable to trafficking However, this study focuses on children because they in a higher degree than women are dependent on others, i.e adults that have a responsibility to see to their interests, economic as well as social

The study will further explore the root causes of child trafficking in Ghana Finally, the objective is to analyse already existing strategies in preventing and protecting the victims of child trafficking, prosecuting the offenders, making partnerships with like-minded and implementing the national laws within the subject-matter and make sure they are being followed in Ghana The trafficking exploitation of children in Ghana is quite common and therefore it is important to highlight the problem and put

a lot of resources into finding out why this is happening and how it can be prevented The wish with this study is that it will contribute with some suggestions and recommendations for future work in combating this abominable crime

1.2 Scope and limitations

Geographically, this study is limited to Ghana, where the field study was conducted And the findings of this study should therefore not be generalised to the international context or any other country for that matter Even though many of the driving mechanisms behind human trafficking, such as the push factor of poverty and pull factor from the developed countries remain constant, findings from any field study cannot be transferred due the cultural aspects may underpin the recruitment process Internationally, there has been a clear focus on trafficking in women for sexual purposes The linkages between trafficking in women and trafficking

in children are blurred, as the two often overlap, the purpose, methods and channels of recruitment often being the same However, these factors can also differ between the two types of trafficking Even if the purposes and methods were the same, the focus on trafficking in children limits how results can be generalised to the trafficking in women/adults Also adults are coerced, tricked and threatened into trafficking, but a major difference is the far higher degree of dependence that children face The legal treatment of the two groups also differs which has consequences when asking about enforcement of the laws concerning child trafficking

When conducting a field study time is often a limiting factor And more time in the field would naturally have been beneficial for the purpose of the study However, both the quantity and quality of the interviews superseded initial expectations, so this cannot be seen as a severe limitation

2 Theory

There exists no coherent theory on the root causes of trafficking in human beings Instead, thoughts on the causes of trafficking come from a variety of different theoretical and methodological traditions Often viewed through the lenses of each respective tradition and within certain frames, either as a crime against humanity or a manifestation of male dominance over women,

trafficking is often treated as theoretically ad hoc or an extreme of other

phenomena, such as migration, child labour or prostitution

Despite, or rather due to, this incoherence little attempt has been made

to categorise theoretical perspectives into comprehensive schools of thought The problems surrounding such processes are exacerbated by the overlapping and intertwining of the different perspectives There is seldom any clear representative of a given approach Despite this, an attempt is given below to sort the most prominent thoughts into different theoretical perspectives

It should also at this stage be clarified that this is not a theory testing study, the perspectives are used as a frame of reference only Theory testing would first of all have required testable theories, these are only rough categorisations And theory testing would have required closed questions, as opposed to the open questions used here, or a quantitative methodology in order to test the ability of each perspective in a comparable manner

2.1 Legislative approach

The legalisative approach refers not so much to a series of hypotheses being challenged by researchers, as it is a methodological approach to the problem that trafficking poses The legislative approach focus on legal provisions, law enforcement and witness protection The focus is not mainly on root causes of trafficking, but on the prosecution of traffickers

The United Nation Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking

in Persons, especially Women and Children (United Nations 2000) is to a large extent a reflection of a legislative approach towards trafficking

Human trafficking is defined by the protocol as “[…] an action involving the systematic or organised recruitment, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to

achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of sexual exploitation” (United Nations 2000, Article 3a))

Although providing tools to efficiently combat trafficking, the legislative approach does not directly address the root causes For the purpose of this study the legislative approach should probably be most relevant for the second question on enforcement But the possibility should not be excluded that legislation is linked to root causes

2.2 Development perspective

The development perspective also includes other factors that are not purely economic in nature, but are all causes or symptoms of social or economic deprivation Poverty is multi-dimensional lack of income, employment or other opportunities in life forces people into leaving and creates a ripe situation for traffickers The perception that a better life is possible somewhere abroad is the driving force behind both legal and illegal migration And through the same, often desperate, pursuit grows the basis for deceit by the traffickers

Some proponents of this perspective also argue that the growth of trafficking has occurred in tandem with the rapidly growing internationalisation (e.g Chuang 2006) Internationalisation, together with restrictive policies on legal migration from industrialised countries, has opened a window of opportunity for those who wish to profit from exploiting women and children

There are two channels through which international inequality has an impact, push factors and pull factors Push factors are often a matter of survival for the migrants (Chuang 2006: 141) The fact that women are over-represented in this category make them especially vulnerable, through unequal opportunity for labour and domestic violence to approaches by traffickers The need for migration is a recurrent theme within the development perspective Although the choice to migrate is a conscious action, it may not be voluntary in the full meaning of the word If the choice stands between migration and genocide, persecution or starvation, the amount of free will involved is questionable

UN Special Rapporteur Radhika Coomaraswamy (2000) concludes that trafficking is the extension of the traditional female role into the international market Trafficking may be caused by poverty, but is made much worse for women by gender inequality

However, claiming that poverty is decisive is far from understanding the channels through which it works Looking at our contemporary world, a complex relationship between poverty and trafficking emerges (Danailova-Trainor and Laczko 2010) Perceived poverty seems to be more important than absolute poverty in the pursuit of a better life Among the ten top countries of origin only one can be ranked as a low income country (ibid:

50) This may seem like a paradox, but we must keep in mind that the most destitute often lack possibilities to migrate And potential migrants are high risk targets for traffickers

Another interesting aspect lifted by Danailova-Trainor and Laczko in their report, is that trafficking also exacerbates impoverishment This of course includes the cost incurred by economies by the resources they allocate in order to combat the criminal activities, and the loss income that could have been generated by the victims of trafficking had they been part

of the productive and legal economy Worse for the sending countries, which are often developing nations with limited resources, trafficking means that the remittances which are normally generated through work force migration are diverted to the traffickers The value of economic losses

is difficult to estimate, but the illegal profits made by traffickers is estimated

to US$ 27.8 to 36 billion (ibid: 57)

Jeffreys argues that there has been a lot of political focus on the prosecution of the repatriation of trafficked victims She also argues, little attention has been given to the criminalisation, prosecution and prevention

of men buying sex She attributes this mainly due to efforts by pro-sex work organisations that have been more active in trying to separate trafficking from prostitution in the Palermo Protocol, and also portraying the whole phenomenon as a minor problem within the sex industry as a whole (Jeffreys 2009: 157)

The sex industry became vital in the fight to contain HIV/AIDS and through this the industry gained political leverage The leverage was later used to push for the legalisation of prostitution (ibid: 167) Trafficking, linked to illegal coercion and abuse of human rights, presented a problem for the legitimisation of the sex industry And this prompted a trend where the industry argued for the minimal influence of trafficking within sex work, claiming that a fraction were actually coerced, the rest were to be regarded as “migrant sex workers” (ibid: 165) In contrast, Jeffreys sees trafficking and prostitution as inseparable

The main point made by Jeffreys is that the neglect to address the demand side of trafficking, which she attributes to the successful lobbying

of the sex industry, is a major impediment in the fight against trafficking She laments the limited attention paid to the root causes of trafficking

Although these are not clearly specified by Jeffreys, she clearly sees these causes, at least on the demand side, as embedded within the wider sex industry and the inequality between sexes It is also a fair assumption that Jeffreys would agree with the notion that limited opportunities of women in supply countries serves as a catalyst of trafficking (e.g Chuang 2006)

2.4 Cultural perspective

The cultural perspective is the least developed as a theoretical framework for trafficking But it appears, sometimes ad hoc, in case studies Danailova-Trainor and Laczko (2010: 40) distinguish between traditional serfdom, which is dependent on cultural factors and the international cross-border trafficking The latter must be assumed to be more general according to the authors as they regard the former as being difficult to draw general conclusions from, due to specific socio-cultural settings

However, even cross-border trafficking has its origin within borders, or more precisely, within specific socio-cultural settings, be it a village, nation

or region Despite the fact that the supply must be generated in these specific settings, the emphasis on culture is not central in the discourse surrounding trafficking

One rare example Singh and Hart (2007) offers is an interesting expose

on the link between sex trade and culture in the case of Thailand They argue that the sex industry in Thailand has been perpetuated through the inclusion of a sex trade into the culture And that sex tourism itself has become a cultural industry in Thailand, fostered by a high tolerance level towards sex trade

The fact that the industry has become a major source of revenue for the country has made the official attitude even more relaxed (ibid: 157) But, the authors also contend that the sex industry has become a cultural phenomenon entrenched, not only in the contemporary image of Thailand, but in the deeper rooted fantasy of the seductive nature of the Orient, and the “Orientals” The very preference of Westerners to become sex tourists is according to the authors not just about the act in itself, but woven into our racial and cultural stereotypes (ibid: 158) This in turn has promoted a self-image of being “tolerant” towards the sex industry and an international place of pleasure

3 Methodology

This study is based on a qualitative research methodology as this was most suitable for the type of data mining required by the research questions (Becker 1996: 11) The data collection was conducted in the form of interviews, mainly individual, complemented by some group interviews

In order to carry out these interviews, a set of open interview questions was established beforehand The main advantage of specified, standardised questions is the coherence, continuity and comparability of the result

This however, has the disadvantage of imposing limits on the dynamics

of an interview, which is particularly limiting when conducting a qualitative field study Therefore, the interview questions were defined and standardised, but aimed to be open and broad to enable the greatest possible independence for the interviewed individual

Recalling the main research question; “What are the root causes to child trafficking in Ghana?”, the standard questions for the individual interviews were; In what way do you see trafficking? Why does trafficking exist in Ghana? What is the best way to prevent it? What are the best ways to treat the victims and how should one deal with the traffickers? Why is not the Ghanaian national law on children’s rights and against trafficking implemented in the society?

As flexibility is needed in order to respond to specific situations as they appear, follow up questions were constructed (Rubin & Rubin 2005: 136) However, these are not explicitly accounted for in this study as they were specific to the individual interviews and therefore likely to intrude on the anonymity of that person But the answers are integrated into the empirical part of the study while keeping anonymity

Considering the sensitive and difficult nature of the research questions, the interviews have been conducted in an open minded and friendly atmosphere (Creswell 2003: 105-106) This in order to build an area of confidence and security around the interviewed, so that he or she can feel total security in answering the questions honestly and sincerely without fearing his or her position or reputation Both qualitative methodology and the sensitive nature of the questions necessitated that the interviews be more like open and comfortable conversations rather than strict standard procedures (Hargreaves 2006: 204)

Every representative, of an agency or organisation, was asked to give their opinion in experience of their work, and not through their positions And to answer not as a representative of the organisation, but as individuals This in order to find their personal opinions and to avoid getting answers corresponding to mere official positions, already in documented

One difficulty conducting these interviews, e.g when interviewing parents who had sold their children, was to remain impartial and not disclosing any personal sentiments Therefore the written questions had to

be prepared meticulously to be impartial and non-leading, and to keep the same in mind for the follow-up questions

The interviews were conducted through written notes, and not recorded Recordings have the advantage of being able to replay the exact wordings of

a conversation However, due to the sensitivity of the subject, it was vital to ensure that the interviewees would not feel that their anonymity in any way would or could be compromised The risk that some could find a tape recorder inhibiting and not disclose information that they viewed as sensitive was therefore given primacy The number of persons willing to be interviewed and the sensitive information disclosed, serves as a confirmation that this assumption was not incorrect

The most systematic and methodologically correct way to gather data was to divide the interviews into sets of individuals, groups and organisations that are directly involved with trafficking of children at some stage The study population was divided into three sub-categories; governmental agencies, non-governmental organisations and private citizens, in turn representing three different levels of analysis being involved macro-, meso- and micro-level of the trafficking problem

Governmental agencies, the macro-level, refers to different Ghanaian ministries responsible in the fight against trafficking, such as law enforcement and judicial agencies These agencies were chosen to capture the diverse institutional conceptualisations of anti-trafficking efforts at the macro-level Together they constitute the professionals that work with prevention, protection and prosecution concerning trafficking in Ghana Five different institutions were chosen, and six individuals were interviewed They were all given the standardised questions cited above, with room for flexible follow-up questions as the interviews progressed Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the meso-level, refers to the NGOs in Ghana that currently work with all aspect of the fight against trafficking, except investigation and prosecution matters They are often out

on the field being in contact with both victims, traffickers and parents, but many of them also have close contacts with different governmental agencies, i.e they have a meso-position in the fight against trafficking of children The NGOs in the study range from some of the largest and world leading to smaller local ones At the meso-level of this study, four NGO:s were chosen and seven interviews conducted The standardised questions dominated here as for the macro-level interviews

Private citizens, the micro-level, refers to teachers in sending communities, children who has been rescued from trafficking, and parents who have sold their children to traffickers In addition to this some private citizens in Accra were also interviewed, these constitute members of the general population, affected or unaffected, by trafficking

It was of great importance to allow the micro-level be represented in this study, especially the children who have been trafficked, as they have unique information about the process of trafficking Therefore a group interview with seven ex-trafficked children between the ages of fourteen and seventeen was conducted Due to the limited time of interviewing the school children and the different dynamic of a group interview, the standardised set

of questions was slightly modified into two questions, designed to capture

the exact same aspects as the standard ones; Why do you think child trafficking in Ghana exists? What do you think that Ghana should do to prevent child trafficking and protect your right?

In addition to this a group assignment was conducted with nineteen children between the ages of seven and seventeen, also rescued from trafficking The assignment was to make a drawing of themselves while putting down the feelings and emotions, thinking back to the time they worked as slaves These drawings were later analysed together with a psychologist at one of the major NGO:s and serves as an integrated part of the analysis below The drawings help in representing the smallest children, who can be difficult to interview as they might not want to answer questions

as they find the memories to difficult, or answer the questions but in a way they think they should answer them out of the interviewers angle or their previous master’s Drawings provide an easier way to express themselves for small children The drawings can be found in Appendix X of this study The two parents who were interviewed about the root causes of trafficking were asked what the government can do better and what they can

do to prevent, protect and care for the population Teachers out in the different communities work with children and are educated in another way than the parents in the rural areas They can therefore add interesting viewpoints to this study One interview has been conducted with a teacher from a prominent sending area in Ghana, with the standard set of questions

In addition, questions were asked about trafficking to randomly chosen inhabitants of Accra, the main question being; Do you know what human trafficking is? And if the answer was no, the question was changed into a description the phenomena and asking if this description was familiar to the person All these questioned persons lived in Accra, with jobs and occupations not related to trafficking issues This was done to get an approximate on how known the phenomenon was among the general people Around twenty to thirty people were asked

Everyone participating in the interviews was promised full anonymity But it was noticed early on that the people felt secure enough to disclose very delicate information As a consequence, not only the individuals, but also the government agencies and NGO:s are anonymous, and the interviews do not include the specific follow-up questions Since these questions makes it possible to track the organisation, which may put these in

a compromising situation, all questions are taken out and the interviews written as a full text, though with the exact words of the interviewed person

4 Trafficking in Ghana

Before the empirical findings from the field study are presented in detail it

is necessary to describe the country where the data collection took place This brief description of Ghana's history, geography, economy and political system describes the setting in which the trafficking discussed takes place This chapter also offers a description of Ghana's legal system, trafficking situation and legal provisions to combat human trafficking and trafficking

of children

4.1 About Ghana

Ghana is a constitutional democracy which is located in West Africa and borders with the three French speaking nations Burkina Faso, Togo and the Ivory Coast plus the Gulf of Guinea It was the first country in the sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence from colonial rule, in 1957 But it was first in 1992 that Ghana finally became a stable democratic and a new constitution was written, among other things, allowing a multiparty system (BBC News)

As many other West African nations, Ghana has the horrific experience

of being a major source of slaves in the transatlantic trade during the European colonial era The British, who gave the country the name ”The Gold Coast”, gradually became the most influential European power In

1874, the area became a British protectorate, and remained so until 1957 when it gained independence after centuries of colonial rule (Ghana Web) Ghana is one of the most thriving democracies on the continent And as

it has been spared from most conflicts, it has often been referred to as an

"island of peace" in one of the most chaotic regions on earth

The population is approximately 25 million (CIA World Factbook) and consists of about 100 different ethnic groups and no part of Ghana is ethnically homogeneous Urban centres are the most ethnically mixed because of migration to towns and cities by people looking for employment Each group has their own unique language, but English is the official one, a legacy of British colonial rule Each ethnic group also has their own traditions, but they have similar cultural beliefs and a contemporary history, two factors that unites all the groups to be Ghanaians Religion plays a very active part in the daily lives of Ghanaians Over 68.8 percent are Christians, 15.9 percent are Muslims, 8.5 percent are Traditionalists, 0.7 percent are other and 6.1 percent consider themselves as non-believers (ibid.)

However, even non-traditionalist Ghanaians also pay a lot of attention to traditional beliefs and social events

The economy is dominated by agriculture Ghana is very poor, more so than e.g Bangladesh Approximately 29 percent of the population in Ghana live under the poverty line Education has improved significantly lately but still the adult literacy rate is at 54.1 percent A recent discovery of oil in the Gulf of Guinea has become may bring potentially radical change to the country as it could make the country an important producer and exporter of oil in the next few years (Ghana Web)

4.2 Legal system of Ghana

The legal system in Ghana is based on the constitution, Ghanaian common law and customary law (US Library of Congress 1) The constitution from

1992 assures the institution of chieftancy together with its traditional councils as established by customary law and usage The National House of Chiefs, without executive or legislative power, advises on all matters affecting the country's chieftancy and customary law

The British introduced the criminal law and penal system in Ghana, which before was based on more traditional rulings After more than a century of legal evolution, the application of traditional law to criminal acts disappeared Since 1961 the criminal law, administered by the court system and based on British common law, has been statutory and based on a Criminal Code

But, traditionally the rule of life has to a large extent been set through the framework of customary rules rather than legislation, which therefore has not been prioritised Traditional criminal cases have been an issue for the chiefs with the base on public consensus sanctioned by custom (ibid.) Ghana was the first country to ratify the UN convention on the Rights of the Child in February 1990 The ratification of the convention was the first step to protect the children of Ghana and give them legal rights Due to the ratification many changes and adjustments where done within the criminal code to meet international standards But, even though several years have passed these laws and conventions have not been fully implemented, they are rather still on a planning and strategy stage

Different ministries and institutions are assigned different responsibilities in work against trafficking, some of the more important institutions dealing with these issues are: the Anti-Trafficking Unit, the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVISU), the Ministry of Social Welfare (DSW), the National Commission on Children (GNCC), The Ministry of women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC), the commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Ghana Police Service (WAJU) and the Law courts The government has also established a 17-member Human Trafficking Board

composed of all involved ministries, the security services, but also the private sector and other important stakeholders

In Ghana there are four main documents that protect the rights of children These are the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the 1998 Children’s Act, the 2003 Juvenile Justice Act and the 2005 Human Trafficking Act The criminal code was amended in 1998 and together with the Children's Act and Juvenile Justice Act it enabled a legal framework which worked to acknowledge and protect children Of these documents the Constitution, the Children's Act and the Human Trafficking Act are described below

4.2.1 Constitution of Ghana

The Ghanaian constitution clearly forbids bonded labour of adults and children alike The Constitution states the fundamental human rights, such as; protection of right to life, personal liberty, protection from slavery and forced labour (Constitution of Ghana 1992)

Article 28 of the Constitution outlines the rights of the child The

following citation is of importance for the purpose of this study; “the parliament shall enact such laws as are necessary to ensure that; section 1d; Children and young persons receive special protection against exposure

to physical and moral hazards, section 3; a child shall not be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and section 4; no child shall be deprived by any other person of medical treatment, education or any social or economic benefits by reason only of religious or other beliefs”

4.2.2 Children’s Act

The Children’s Act of 1998 defines a child as a human being under the age

of eighteen (Section 1) The act states and regulates the rights of the child such as education, adequate diet, clothing, shelter, medical attention etc It also aims to protect the child from bonded labour, torture, inhuman treatment or punishment including any cultural practice which dehumanises

or is harmful to the physical and mental well-being of the child (Children's Act 1998, Sections 12-13)

According to the Ghanaian Children’s Act a child under the age of eighteen is generally not allowed to be employed or do any kind of hazardous labour

The Act states different measure to help children “in need of care and protection” and also defines who those children are It also explains how

the jurisdiction within the court shall be handled and issues concerning custody, access, maintenance and general guidelines The Children’s Act regulates child labour and protects the best interests of the child in that respect, but does not directly address the issue of trafficking

There has been some problems with enforcing the Act, due to the fact that many law enforcement officials often are unfamiliar with the provisions

of the law that protect children (US Department of Labor)

4.2.3 Human Trafficking Act

The existing policies and acts on child trafficking are rooted in the Convention on the Rights of the Child from 1989 The Convention as such guarantees children protection from exploitation, abuse and participation in family, cultural and social life It ensures the right to education, health and nutrition and to have a childhood without violence or forced labour It also promotes an ethical view on children, who shall no longer be seen as objects

of welfare, charity or work force But rather guaranteed rights to take action for their own well-being

In December 2005 the Ghanaian government passed a law to combat trafficking, with the assistance from international organisations This act also led to a strengthening of the general legal Ghanaian framework (Johansen 2011) The Human Trafficking Act criminalises trafficking and aims to prevent, reduce and punish the crime Ghana also seeks to rehabilitate and reintegrate people, both children and adults, who have been trafficked and created the Human Trafficking Fund for this purpose The act also prescribed the penalty of trafficking to a minimum of five years, parents are not excepted (Human Trafficking Act 2005, Section 3, Subsection 4)

The Act defines human trafficking as an act of recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, trading or receipt of persons Also where there has been use of threats, force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, the abuse of power or exploitation of vulnerability Or where giving or receiving payments and benefits to achieve consent of a person for the purpose of exploitation has occurred (Human Trafficking Act 2005, Section 1, Subsection 1)

Trafficking include, but is not defined by exploitation The Act states that exploitation shall include at the minimum; induced prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation; forced labour or service; slavery; practices similar to slavery; servitude and removal of human organs (Human Trafficking Act 2005, Section 1, Subsection 2)

The Trafficking Act also states that when trafficking has occurred the issue of consent at the time the act of trafficking was committed is irrelevant

to the legality of the action: “Where children are trafficked the consent of the child’s parents or guardian of the child cannot be used as defence in prosecution […] regardless of whether or not there is evidence of abuse of power, fraud or deception on the part of the trafficker or whether the vulnerability of the child was taken advantage of” (Human Trafficking Act

2005, Section 1; 4)

Under the law it is an offence not to inform the police of human trafficking and one can for such an act be fined and imprisoned for at least

12 months (Human Trafficking Act 2005, Section 6) And if a police officer

do not investigate a report of human trafficking he or she can be subjected

to Police Service Disciplinary procedure

4.3 Child trafficking in Ghana

Human trafficking is an international problem affecting millions of people all over the world In Ghana children are trafficked from or within the country (US Department of State) Children between seven and seventeen are also trafficked to neighbouring countries such as Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Gambia, Nigeria for the purpose of forced labour (US Department of State) Girls are also sent to the Middle East and Europe to work as domestic workers and prostitutes (US Department of Labor)

However, internal trafficking is the most acute problem and here the majority of the victims are children Ghana is divided into ten regions, the ones in the South are poor, but still considered wealthier than the ones in the North Despite this, it is the South that is generally a recruitment, or sending, area and the northern regions are the receiving ones

Many Ghanaian children are trafficked to work in the fishing industry carrying out hazardous work tasks Child labour and child trafficking are deeply intertwined with the country's fishing industry Each year IOM reports numerous deaths of children who have been trafficked to perform hazardous labour in the Lake Volta fishing industry

Both boys and girls are trafficked within the borders of Ghana for forced labour within the fishing and agriculture, for street hawking, forced begging, religious rites, mining, stone quarrying, porters etc And the demand is high, approximately 30,000 children are believed to work as porters in Accra alone Girls are mostly trafficked for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation

The Ghana Statistical Service estimated in 2001 that approximately 27.2 percent of the Ghanaian children between five to fourteen years old were working The majority of these children work unpaid on family farms or family enterprises (ibid.) When it comes to trafficking, there is no reliable data of the number of internal or external victims, although the figure is thought to be in the thousands (US Department of State)

Children represent cheap labour, a fishing net cost more than a child, so they are worth little to their masters The fishermen in turn are desperate to feed their families and getting money from their work The youngest children trafficked internally are at the age of four, doing the same kind of work as the older children

The parents play a crucial role in the recruitment process as they give their consent to it Sometimes the traffickers give the parents an advance

payment or promise monthly, quarterly or annual compensation throughout the work time of the child The recruiter normally also promise the parents the child will receive accommodation, food, and even education during the day, before work starts or at least some kind of work training which can be

of value in the future for the child

But, in most cases the children do not receive any education at all, the accommodation is a small barn without furniture and the food is given out once a day and normally just consists of some corn porridge The

“educational learning”, will turn out to be only forced labour and exploitation within the fishing, agricultural or sex industry The parents never even receive the money they were promised (US Department of State)

5 Interviews

As described in the chapter on methodology, the interviews have been divided into a macro-, meso-, and micro level The macro-level is constituted by government ministries and agencies, the meso-level by NGOs, and micro-level by teachers, parents and children respectively As much of the information is sensitive, anonymity is prioritised Specific questions that could lead to the disclosure of identity behind an interview are therefore excluded and any ministry, agency, organisation or person referred to by name in the interviews will be coded by X

5.1 Macro-level, Governmental Agencies

The interviews identified as macro-level interviews include senior officials from two national ministries A and B, one senior official from a judicial agency, senior officials from law enforcement agencies A and B, as well as officers active within law enforcement agency B

5.1.1 Ministry A, Senior official

The senior official explained that the reason why the offenders get involved

in trafficking is to get money and property The victims in turn get involved

in the hope to get a better life “For the victims poverty is a big factor, but that is not always the factor for the traffickers, they might just want more money.“

The traditional family system has become one factor for the spread of trafficking in Ghana In some cultures in Ghana the man’s first son belongs

to his sister and in others the first son belongs to the father’s brother These matrilineal and patrilineal systems have made it easier for trafficking to

grow, the senior official explained ”The uncle will then have more control over the first son then the real dad has But there can be irresponsible uncles and so forth.”

The senior official underlined that even if this is customary law, national

law would overrule it “From the beginning the system (of customary law) was good But now people have become more greedy and they want more and more money This is due to modernization, urbanization, monitarization

of economy”

“People know about the national law Well some do not know, but most people do know But the atmosphere is led by the words: 'children shall be seen but not heard'

With this, the senior official explained, is meant that a child cannot be right, even if what the adult is saying is wrong And even if people know the

dangers the sentiment might still be “the grass is always greener on the other side”

Now the state of Ghana comes and says that “the child has a say”, the

senior official explained, while emphasising that it will take time to

implement change “We need education, awareness crews etc to really be able to go and implement the message in all parts of Ghana” It takes a lot

of time to change customary law and implement national law, the senior official explained

We are now going to churches, communities etc to let them know about the laws and the dangers with trafficking, the senior official explained And stated that they inform people on how children should be treated and that

they cannot do the same labour as adults “It is of course okay to give a child assignments to do but not if it is bad for their health, development and education” The senior official also said that they are telling people that

non-biological children who are resident in the household shall be treated as the biological ones

Concerning enforcement the senior official stated that if the parents have received education about trafficking and childcare, and the children are back home but still re-trafficked, then the parents should be punished Also if the parents have never trafficked their children before, but do know or should know about trafficking, but still do it, then they should also be punished

“With 'should' I mean that there are a lot of communities where e.g NGO X is out to inform and education people about trafficking, and sending away the children to work for other people In these communities the parents cannot claim they didn’t know One has also duties in the society and NGO X is doing a great job, the duty is then to be open to the information” The senior official continued by explaining that if one can be

sure the parents did not know about the law and about trafficking, then they should not be punished but educated

But, the senior official also added that “I have seen women who have sent their children away because of, they say, poverty But they are sitting there with their nice clothes and nice jewellery, all over, and I just think that, that, they did not do this out of poverty; they did it so they can have a nice life, dress nicely and not have to work I have seen that, in those cases

it is just the modernization, the greediness and the way people see children that is the reason Not poverty”

Concerning the suggestion to let parents be in jail for one to four weeks,

while Ministry X takes care of the children the high official said: ”No we can’t change the law, if the law says 4-5 years it should also be between that Or whatever is said One to four weeks is no good And if a parent steal, they are not thought of as parents, then no one will care about that”

Concerning the children in these cases, the senior official did not know

what would happen to them ”If the case is reported the case would go to the ministry in charge, if not, I do not know” “I don’t believe in changing the law for parents who traffic their children Parents go to jail every day, almost everyone in jail is a parent.”

The senior official explained that if a parent is single and ends up in jail, Ministry X will try to find relatives to take care of the child And if no one were to be found, other care would be provided for as a last resort

“What the law says is what shall happen, if the parents are found guilty; let them go [to prison] No special rules.”

“Often it is trustworthy women, looking like me, you know trustworthy, nicely dressed and proper looking who come to the village to collect females and propose work as 'bakers, cleaners, etc.' in other places or countries, like the Ivory Coast But in the end they will work as prostitutes I have seen these women myself, when I grew up in a villages But at first I did not know, when this happened in the village, I did not know what would happen to these girls I also thought it was something good But then I learned, by starting working with these issues, now I know and now I understand what was happening in my village, what these women were actually doing with these girls in the end “

Concerning the work of law enforcement the senior official explained that there is a big problem in the system and the police needs more

education “They have to really understand the trafficking phenomenon Now they do not understand, they do not fully know what it is and why it is wrong and how to work against it.“ The senior official also made a remark that the court process is too slow “We need education in all lines!”

5.1.2 Ministry B, Senior official

The senior official of Ministry B explained that trafficking exists in Ghana because of the culture and specified that due to the culture it is very normal

to leave the children with relatives Which was a good thing before, but now

it has changed and people have started to abuse the system The senior official added that maybe the abuse has existed for a long time, but due to more knowledge about it today people are more aware on what it really means

To implement the law is difficult, the official said, people do not know

the difference in enforcement, in fostering the child etc “Who to blame when the kid is not in school? The parents for being poor? The kid for not being in school? Or the government for not helping the population?”

There is a lot of complexity surrounding the phenomenon, the senior official explained The traffickers, a.k.a the fishermen, often think that they are helping the children, especially if they are relatives, as they give them training And then what do you do, the senior official asked, should one send the whole family to court, that will be many If the law is correctly

enforced, all of a sudden the whole family might be in prison “The social structure and the culture is a big problem”

The causes behind that people are sending away or selling their children are, according to the senior official, poverty, illiteracy and ignorance, of

both law and by not being educated “People want to be rich quick! And think: that the best way to become rich is to sell one of the children, and then I will be able to buy clothes for the funeral etc” [Note: funerals in

Ghana are big dress-up occasions, with same fabric in different clothes etc.]

To be able to stop trafficking the senior official thought the best way was to educate people of the community embassies about the law, so that they in turn can educate others But, added that that is not happening today

“Trafficking in human beings is very technical and very hard to prove And one wants to stop it when it looks like there will be exploitation already”

The senior official stated that one big problem with the enforcement in Ghana is that there is no clear cut on line on what should be done Another problem is that there are no funds, no anti-trafficking finances

Concerning the knowledge of the police about human trafficking, the opinion of the senior official was that the total population of the police force does not know what human trafficking is The official said that with the anti-trafficking unit as an exception, the awareness concerning human

trafficking among the Ghanaian police force is weak! “Everybody should be aware, but awareness on the subject is very weak”

The senior official said that trafficking can be prevented through the 3P [prevention, protection and prosecution], education, working together and through awareness And enforcement is best done through imprisonment according to the senior official, explaining that if a parent is found guilty, something has to be done and the punishment is according to the law normally 4 years imprisonment

But, the senior official continued that it is more difficult when there are children involved, and what should happen to them when the parents go to jail for having trafficked them The official suggested that one could give the parents at least one to two weeks, not affecting the child to much Furthermore, the whole community would become scared and learn from others experiences with the imprisonment, and this would make a change The senior official explained further that the traffickers would get five years in prison In parallel, it must be shown that it is not okay by parents to send away the child, for money, because of ignorance, poverty etc If people know the prison is only for one month for parents, relatives will take care of the child during that short time

It was suggested that Ministry X could take one week of catering for the children They can afford that and would be able to accommodate them for that short period of time without problems We have to take trafficking in human beings serious, take the time and resources, both human and funds,

to fight it

5.1.3 Judicial Agency, Senior official

According to the senior official of the Judicial Agency one of the main

reasons why trafficking exist in Ghana, is the “extended family system, the hostage care system” “Nowadays people are taking advantage of the system The uncle taking the children might use the children himself for hard labour or sell them to someone else later”

Secondly, the senior official said, it is because of poverty and that people cannot take care of all the children and need money, so they sell them in order to work for other people Thirdly because of ignorance, and that this is a very big and important reason, the senior official accentuated

“Lack of education is a big reason to the existence of child trafficking, and trafficking in general If people knew, I don’t think they would send away their children like that”

“Fourthly, it is a bit of a status symbol in some of the communities to have a lot of children, even if you send them away and let them work in other places” “Fifthly, there is no punishment, and people know that And who would take care of the children if the parents would be punished? There is no one, and they know that too”

The senior official explained that the investigation in Ghana is done by the law enforcement agency and that judicial agencies have to wait on them,

as they do not have anything to do with the investigation themselves The judicial agencies do not even hear about the cases, all that information stays with the law enforcement They do not even know the cases exist until they

come to their table “We wait for the law enforcement to investigate and come with the cases to us [ ], but they (note: law enforcement) do not do that”

The senior official continued by stressing that even if an investigation case comes all the way to the judicial stage, it is often so badly prepared so

that nothing can be done with it “We need to have real information, witnesses, proof, statements, but we rarely get that So we cannot do anything else than send it back, it is nothing to take to court”

On the question why the cases do not reach the stage of judicial

enforcement, the senior official explained: “Well I do not blame them really In the communities, everyone knows each other and everyone is in some way related to each other it seems They might be cousins, uncles, extended family, family through marriage, family from a marriage with a cousin or even further away etc And then, no one dares to say anything!”

The senior official explained that it is very difficult to change that

behaviour, however the best way to do so would be through education “I mean, even I, I mean if my husband’s cousin would be in some trouble, doing some illegal things, even I would do nothing If I would report it my husband’s whole family, and extended family, and friends etc would ask 'why did you do that' and contact me and look me up to scream and be unfriendly It would be so much talk and so many problems So for the peace of mind, I would say nothing, just like all other people think They

might not like it, they might even hope that the extended person would get caught, but they will not report it themselves, it would be like sending themselves to an informal lifelong punishment”

In order to be able to change the trends in the communities, there is a need to make people aware about the law, and that what they are doing is wrong, the senior official said And continued with saying that people cannot continue protecting each other like they are now, but it is very hard

to change, as it is all very deeply rooted in the communities, and that the person reporting others will be excommunicated in the village So the best

way in the end would be to do preventive work “Prevention is the best way

to change this!”

The senior official explained that only the “juicy” cases come to the judicial enforcement agencies and that all the other cases will end up at the police department And the police will then do the investigation all by themselves, which, the senior official underlined, they are entitled to do, as

it looks like now And continued that the police often keep the case for a long time, as they gain money from it They get money from the attorneys

etc “The police are very corrupt, and that is a big problem” The senior official added that also the judicial agencies are corrupt “So the problem is also here It is a big problem in Ghana, but especially at the Police department” “It (note: corruption) is a cultural thing, well it is an attitude I guess Yes it is an attitude, and that is very hard to change”

“But well before July, I must say that I could hardly blame the police for

it either They then earned around 100 dollar a month, normally people working with such work, earn maybe 800-900 dollar a month 100 dollar, for a lot of work, and you got a family and everything to take care of Then

it is not so strange you take some advantage of the situation and get some more money But now, since July this year, the police got a big pay raise and they now earn 600-700 a month, which is good, but the corrupted system is still there and has not changed one bit You now just get more money”

The senior official explained that there is a need for change of mind when it comes to the next generation of police officers But added that it will still take time, the system has been there for such a long period of time and is deeply rooted in the society

“The police collect money from the accused person and then say to the juridical enforcement agencies that “we cannot find any witnesses, so we will let the offender go” However, sometimes the boss gets aware of the

case or the media does etc and then all of a sudden they find witnesses! The senior official said that the corruption among the police can change with time, if the police will be educated about it The senior official talked about the problem around the approach of the police during the investigation period According to the senior official, the police in Ghana do not see their

work as the first step towards prosecution They do not see it as “this case will go to prosecution”, neither as “we are investigating so the judicial agencies will have evidence to prosecute this person” That should be in the

back of their mind during investigation, but it is not “I do not know what they think, but they do not plan, they do not work towards prosecution Therefore they should be taught”

To be able to take child traffickers to court, we need to look at the case, the definition, meaning, is it trafficking or not, but the police do not do that, the senior official explained

“The police are not lawyers and they do not know what is needed for prosecution matters Then it is a bit depending on the magnitude of the case where the case is going”

The senior official said that there is a need for better communication between the both agencies, and that the judicial agency should be allowed to play a slightly bigger role when it comes to the investigation This means that they should be able to talk about what they need and what the police

has to look for in order for them to do their job in the next stage The senior

official explained that there have been cases that media has given a lot of attention to And the police were, as usual, going to do the investigation But then with all the attention around it they had called the judicial agencies

to ask: “What should we do? What information should we look? What do you need us to get for you so you can do your job in this case?”

“That shows that, they do not know what we need at all If they knew they would not need to call us and ask those questions” “We need to come

to the point where we, at the judicial agencies, are a part of the investigation! That is very important”

5.1.4 Law Enforcement Agency A, Senior official

The senior official explained that to combat human trafficking in Ghana there is a need for more awareness and a need of changing people’s cultural view as it is not seen as a bad thing to send away a child The senior official thought it is important to show the population that it is in fact wrong We need a change of mind, for the whole society, from parliament level and down, not only in the receiving and sending communities

Most people do know about the law in the communities, but not all of them, so we need to be more pro-active, the senior official stated The best way to prevent trafficking is through partnership, with NGOs etc The politicians in turn can best prevent trafficking through information campaigns and education, the senior official continued

The senior official considered there to be enough knowledge about human trafficking among the police force, but added that it can always be better On the question on the thoughts whether the police can identify victims or not, the answer was that more police can identify victims nowadays and they call us when they see a bus full of children for example Concerning the enforcement, the opinion was that both parents and traffickers should be imprisoned

The senior official stated that they did not have enough resources but the problem was mainly due to the fact that they did not have enough vehicles

or computers The government should help, the senior official explained, but added briefly that they have a lot of problems As the senior official did not want to evaluate the subject more, the discussion went over to the identification of trafficked children The senior official explained that there are three elements concerning whether adults are trafficked or not, act, means and purpose During the investigation one also has to look at whether the person was forced or not and if the action was devised But, when it comes to children all that is not necessary, a child is, under the law, exploited It is harder to see when a child is trafficked than an adult, the senior official expressed

“We want to change people’s mind not on child trafficking but on human trafficking, in the law there is no age!”

5.1.5 Law Enforcement Agency B, Senior official

The senior official expressed worries considering human trafficking in

Ghana which was explained as a big problem “And the police do not have enough resources to take any action We do not have the capacity to accommodate saved children Social Welfare should come up with something but there is nothing really And we do not have enough place or resources to find and put the offenders away either This is a big problem”

The senior official explained that it is a cultural phenomenon that is the root behind the trafficking of children It is rooted in the tradition to take care of the children of your brother or sister if they cannot take care of them properly themselves, or if they get sick, or even die

And people have really big families in Ghana, especially in the country side So if one person has for example six children and then his brother dies and leaves his six children without a dad, then it is the responsibility of the brother who is alive to take care of his children too, meaning he will all of a sudden care for 12 children, the enforcement official pointed out And marked that maybe the family did not have enough resources to take care of their own children in the first place It is then easy to send some of the new children away to extended family, or even sell some of them to strangers, so

that you can use the money for the ones being left “It is not good, but it is happening”

5.1.6 Law Enforcement Agency B, officers

There was a slight problem conducting this group interview as nobody knew what human trafficking was, nor what the definition of trafficking is or how

to recognise victims The officers where chocked hearing about the

phenomenon and asked questions such as; What is human trafficking? How

do you identify a victim? If you let your own child work, is that trafficking? The interview developed into a general discussion about the enforcement situation in Ghana and the officers explained that there is a problem of respect for the police among the citizens

The officers continued with that neither the appearance nor the equipment carried by the police inspire respect from the general population

of Ghana And that it is important to radiate security and respect as a police officer

The law enforcement here does not represent any feeling of strength or reliability, and that is both important factors to build trust and respect People also know that the police can’t do much, the officers said And they

explained that the criminals normally got better equipment.“People do not feel safe and in security when they see the police here as they do in the western world”

5.2 Meso-Level, NGOs

The meso-level comprises representatives from four different NGOs A, B,

C and D NGO B is represented by two senior representatives, 1 and 2, while NGO C is represented by two senior representatives, 1 and 2, and two junior representatives, 1 and 2

5.2.1 NGO A, Representative

The representative explained that over the years people tend to only blame poverty as one of the causes, and it is still one of the main causes, but not the only one Now we also put in ignorance, people do not have enough information and knowledge about trafficking The representative also stated

that illiteracy is a big problem in Ghana

But the representative also highlighted that schools and universities are big recruitment areas, so big sensitization campaigns are needed there

“People are fooled into following the traffickers by promises of summer work or holiday”

The representative did not think all people in Ghana know about the

law And explained: “How could they when not even the people who work within the areas of law enforcement and such know about the law Many people in the police force do not know, how can we then demand the people out in the country to know?”

People do not know that it is illegal to send away the children according

to the representative because the people who should go out and inform them about it, about the law, have not done it